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What am I looking for in a new California governor?

Like a big chunk of the state’s voters, I’m not exactly sure. But I’ve been watching and listening to their spate of debates in the last week, and I’m actually shocked by who I am leaning toward.

I know who I don’t like, though.

Every time I see Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, with his Tom Selleck mustache, I can’t help thinking he should play a lawman on TV. A onetime member of the far-right Oath Keepers, just about every political take he has is bad:

A lack of affordable housing has nothing to do with homelessness, Bianco has said repeatedly. “This is not and never has been about homes. It’s about drugs and mental illness,” he proclaimed Wednesday at the NBC4/Telemundo debate at the Skirball Center.

Bianco wants to get rid of (not reform) the California Environmental Quality Act — dreaded by builders everywhere — and abolish the California Coastal Commission, which for 54 years has ensured public access to beaches that otherwise would have been blocked by private development. When asked whether he supports finishing the high-speed rail that would link Merced to Bakersfield, Bianco replied, “No, I would rather arrest the people that stole our money.”

To which former Democratic U.S. Rep. Katie Porter interjected, “That would be on brand for you, doing something illegal,” alluding to the thousands of Riverside County ballots Bianco seized in a bid to gin up fear about nonexistent voter fraud.

I’ve always liked Porter and her famous white board. I don’t believe snapping at your staff or a reporter is disqualifying, and I’m glad she’s been able to joke about the........

© Los Angeles Times